My sons new 6ft aquarium. Thoughts?

Wowzers!
Sorry no advice for you except listen to the advice of the kind folk here.
Commendations for being teachable and your willingness to share mistakes.
It saddens me to think for every one person that has the nerve and the passion to stick out the hobby there are countless others who just give up.

And all the fish that are lost.

I think it takes a lot to post on a forum and once somebody has done that I think that as a collective we have a responsibility to be gentle with those folks when initially responding.

I am proud of our forum members.
 
I've also got 3 sachets of purigen in one of the canister filters. Temp 27 degrees.

I don't want to loose the dat and love all my new world cichlids. Would be probably wise to loose the angel fish and discuss. Love discuss thoe.

Looking at a new tank with at least 500 litres volume?

Also thinking about swapping out a canister for an oase bio 850?
The purigen will be messing up your filter cycle and reducing or preventing the beneficial bacteria from growing in the filter media/ materials.

If you want to get another tank in the future, get a second filter now and run it on the current tank with the current filter. Have both filters running on the current tank. Then you can move one filter onto the new tank when you get it and you will have an established filter for the new tank so you won't have to cycle it.

A 500 litre tank is probably a bit small for an adult Datnioides. They can reach 18 inches long but usually hit 12 inches in captivity. The minimum size tank for a 12 inch Datnioides is 6ft x 2 ft x 2ft. A bigger tank is needed for a bigger fish. The Leporinus also needs a 6x2x2ft tank or bigger.
 
I'm happy that you are not just giving up. Like some here said, a lot just give up and then the fish are given to random places that cant care for them properly. I also think that giving away the discus is the most reasonable decision.
 
Yes to tap safe. Yes to gravel cleaner and I've been doing x2 water changes a week minimum. I don't like seeing the glass mucky and also don't like seeing the tritus. I've also got 3 sachets of purigen in one of the canister filters. Temp 27 degrees.

I don't want to loose the dat and love all my new world cichlids. Would be probably wise to loose the angel fish and discuss. Love discuss thoe.

Looking at a new tank with at least 500 litres volume?

Also thinking about swapping out a canister for an oase bio 850?

So really great that you do that much maintenance :) hopefully we can get it to a point where it can drop to.

Filtration wise I would look at getting either big Ehiem filters or Fluval FX6's. The Oase are good to a point but with big beasts like this you just want pure power which the FX6s would do and they are cheaper than the Oase.

If a bigger tank is on the cards go as big as you can if you want to keep the Dat, I agree with Colin that a 6x2x2 should be the absolute minimum but a 7 or 8 foot tank would certainly not be over kill.

Its an old thread and unfortunately some of the images and links are dead but this gives an idea of what a full grown datanoid is capable of looking like https://www.fishforums.net/threads/1000-us-gal-project.318731/

After a bit of a google and putting a random Barnsley postcode into the yorkshire water site I am fairly confident you will have soft water, around 8-9gh. So I would be focusing on the South American fish you have and its good news on that front for the Dat, which is really important for such a big animal. But it does mean I would prioritise rehoming your Central American cichlids like the Lyonsi, Nicaraguan and Jack Dempsey.

For me if we can push the boat out to a 7x2x2 with 2 FX6 filters thats the starting point with a Dat for me. I've just added this picture as a bit of context, this is a big animal that needs to be kept properly and kept with fish on the understanding it is a predator so we need to be thinking of fish that are at least half its adult size so tank mates need to be able to grow over 9 inches long.

963880-95907b3365016e884fe63b95e9216600.jpg


For tank mates I would try and get some more Leporinus, they are a bit rare but they are also often rehomed because of the issues but if you have a tank big enough a small group of about 4 would make sense and they would focus on each other naturally and ease any stress on other fish. Your Severum is going to be a good candidate to stay, they are going to be dinner plate sized and you could consider more Severums, maybe some other big South American Cichlids like Oscars, Festae, Geophagus Brasiliensis could work?

Long term I'm not comfortable with your Gourami or Catfish being with them as they are only 5-6 inch fish so I think they could end up as food. You can see in this picture of a youngster how big their mouths truely are. They are ambush predators so would just wait for the other fish to lurk by and suddenly their huge mouth would just envelope the fish.

IndonesianTigerfish3.jpg


Past that its really down to you and what you want to do with your tank and fish, whats the biggest tank you want to go to? Which fish most excite you, I know its mainly the Dat and New Worlds but we need to work out numbers and what the community looks like.

Wills
 
Your an absolute gentleman Wills! Your advice sounds like a route I want to definitely stick to and go down.

I'm looking at a tank at the moment but need a bit more time to build up my funds for the filters aswell. Among other bits. I like the oase for the pre filters but will go with your recommendation if that's what's needed.

Once again Thankyou to you All!!!
 
6ft x 2.5ftx2.5ft. 725litres. Need to extend my cabinet but being an excellent joiner that shouldn't be a problem at all.

Oh i cleaned the filters in tank water the other day but we're both quite clogged with a brown like slime substance??? 🤢
 
Oh i cleaned the filters in tank water the other day but we're both quite clogged with a brown like slime substance??? 🤢

That brown gunk is organic matter and you want to keep that as minimal as possible. Not only doe it impeded water flow through the media, it can cause higher nitrates, and this does affect fish long-term.
 
OK what causes it and how to remove and prevent. I'm constantly doing water changes?
 
OK what causes it and how to remove and prevent. I'm constantly doing water changes?
The brown gunk is organic matter which largely consists of your fishes waste, uneaten food and dead plant matter etc

You remove this through your water changes, substrate vacuuming and filter maintance.

How often do you clean your filters?
 
Once every 2 to 3 weeks. I wonder if I'm over feeding as I've only 1 medium live plant java in the tank....
 
6x2.5x2.5 works out at 1062 litres or 280 US gallons so a great size for the fish you want to keep :)

As Byron put above the brown gunk is organic matter aka fish poop, uneaten food and plant matter. If its on the sponges rinse them out in tank water to remove it. You mentioned that you get a lot of detritus in the tank and this is basically where what you dont hoover up goes. The best way to prevent it is to have a balanced stocking in your tank, remember the inch per gallon rule I mentioned you want to be under the current 70 gallons you have in this tank and you will see a massive improvement.

In terms of timescales how soon do you think the new tank will be in place and ready for the fish? I would probably recommend to start rehoming some of the fish that are not going to work out even in the bigger tank as you have a mix of hard water and soft water fish and a decent number of your fish are food shaped for your Tiger Fish so its worth looking into what this new tank looks like and working out numbers and species.

One thing for sure is that it is going to be awesome :) I mean it is literally a fantasy tank lol!

Wills
 
As Byron put above the brown gunk is organic matter aka fish poop, uneaten food and plant matter. If its on the sponges rinse them out in tank water to remove it.
Just clarifying this part. When you clean the filter media/ materials, you should wash/ squeeze them out in a bucket of tank water. If they are really dirty, squeeze them out in a second bucket of tank water. When they are clean, put the media in the tank and tip the bucket/s of dirty water on the lawn or garden.

Wash the filter case and impellor assembly (magnet with 3 or 4 plastic blades on one end) under tap water. Then put the media back in the filter and set it back up.
 
Hello 👋🏻 do we have an update ??
 
Yes! I just read this whole thread thanks to Captain Barnacles bumping it, and I’m really interested to see as well.
 

Most reactions

Back
Top